Real Madrid signs center Ante Tomic for 3.5 years

Real Madrid signed young center Ante Tomic to a multi-year deal through the end of the 2012-13 season, the club announced Monday. Tomic (217, 22) arrives from KK Zagreb, where he has been the team's brightest star in recent seasons. He leads the Adriatic League in scoring with 18.4 points and in rebounding with 8.7 boards through 16 games this season. Last season he was the Adriatic League’s player of the week five times as he posted averages of 15.5 points, fifth in the league, and a league best 8.6 boards in 24 games. Among his career highlights are wining the 2008 Croatian cup with Zagreb and playing for the various Croatian junior national teams. At Madrid he is expected to slide right into the big man rotation, helping make up for the loss of center Tomas van den Spiegel to injury.